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June 2008
Computers
The new shape of laptops & desktops
If there's a phrase that characterizes the latest crop of desktops and laptops, it's "going to extremes." During our computers review we saw the thinnest, smallest, and largest laptops we've ever tested,
along with laptops and desktops of unprecedented processing speed.
Even component integration is getting extreme, as more manufacturers stuff computer circuitry into monitors to create sleek, one-piece desktops.
Yet the computers review also found basic budget computers and more powerful workhorse and high-end models that would be fine choices for most people.
Here are the details:
More choices for special needs. The all-in-one computers and the new very small and very large laptops come at a price—financial, practical, or both—but they also offer unique distinctions. (See "What's new," available to subscribers.)
Apple's MacBook Air is only three-quarters of an inch thick. Despite its diminutive size, it has an 80GB hard drive, or a smaller 64GB drive if you choose the solid-state version. The 13.3-inch screen was excellent, although colors were not as vibrant as on the best laptop screens we've seen. Battery life was a generous 4½ hours for the standard hard drive, 5¼ for the solid-state. But it's missing an Ethernet port and a CD/DVD drive, although you can add an external drive for $100. At $1,800 it's also the costliest slim-and-light laptop we tested, and the solid-state version costs $3,100.
A number of other laptops in the computers review shrink just about everything, including the price. The Asus Eee PC, for example, costs just $400. It has a 7-inch screen, flash memory instead of a hard drive for saving power, and a 24-month warranty. Like most such machines, it uses the Linux operating system, which we recommend only for basic tasks such as Web browsing and word processing. The Asus has an easy mode for users with little Linux or other computer know-how, weighs about 2 pounds, and ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes in our battery tests.
At the other extreme is HP's Pavilion HDX with its 20-inch screen and $2,000-and-up price tag. The model in our computers review has a lot of features, including two hard drives, a port for an external hard drive, Bluetooth, two front-mounted headphone jacks, and a digital TV tuner. Sound was very good for a laptop, which isn't surprising because it has four speakers and a subwoofer.
Processing accelerates. Chip maker AMD recently joined competitor Intel in making so-called quad-core chips, with four processors instead of the usual two. Intel's Core 2 Quad was the speedier of the two, besting AMD's Phenom by 20 percent and Intel's older Core 2 Duo by about the same. The quad-core desktops we tested during the computers review cost a few hundred dollars more than dual-core models.
Intel also launched its new line of Penryn processors for laptops, known as the T8x00 and T9x00 Core 2 Duo series. We tested them in eight models in the computers review , with mixed results. Battery life in one pair of laptops rose by 30 minutes, but not at all in another. Speed increased by as much as 57 percent, depending on which older processor it was compared with. The new processors boost a laptop's price by $50 to $150 compared with the prior generation of processors, which remain available.
Standard computers advance. Cutting-edge computers aside, even the mainstream models in our Ratings and computers review reflect the steady advance in performance and features, with larger hard drives, increased RAM, and more.
For more help on finding the right computer for your needs, see our free buying advice, "How to choose: desktop PCs" and "How to choose: laptops and notebooks."
Even component integration is getting extreme, as more manufacturers stuff computer circuitry into monitors to create sleek, one-piece desktops.
Yet the computers review also found basic budget computers and more powerful workhorse and high-end models that would be fine choices for most people.
Here are the details:
More choices for special needs. The all-in-one computers and the new very small and very large laptops come at a price—financial, practical, or both—but they also offer unique distinctions. (See "What's new," available to subscribers.)
- All-in-ones. For our review, we rated six computers (available to subscribers) that combine the components and monitor into a single unit that's thicker than an LCD, though
smaller than the combined volume of a traditional two-piece desktop. Apple's elegant iMacs are the original all-in-ones, though Apple's competitors also have stylistic flair. Sony's all-in-one, for example, borrows
design elements from some models in the company's HDTV line, with a display that seems to float within a glass case. The HP TouchSmart has a touchscreen and a message center that allows a family to share an electronic calendar and leave notes for one another.
- Laptops, slim and large. Our computers review found new designs that shrink and expand the machine in different ways, with
different trade-offs.
Apple's MacBook Air is only three-quarters of an inch thick. Despite its diminutive size, it has an 80GB hard drive, or a smaller 64GB drive if you choose the solid-state version. The 13.3-inch screen was excellent, although colors were not as vibrant as on the best laptop screens we've seen. Battery life was a generous 4½ hours for the standard hard drive, 5¼ for the solid-state. But it's missing an Ethernet port and a CD/DVD drive, although you can add an external drive for $100. At $1,800 it's also the costliest slim-and-light laptop we tested, and the solid-state version costs $3,100.
A number of other laptops in the computers review shrink just about everything, including the price. The Asus Eee PC, for example, costs just $400. It has a 7-inch screen, flash memory instead of a hard drive for saving power, and a 24-month warranty. Like most such machines, it uses the Linux operating system, which we recommend only for basic tasks such as Web browsing and word processing. The Asus has an easy mode for users with little Linux or other computer know-how, weighs about 2 pounds, and ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes in our battery tests.
At the other extreme is HP's Pavilion HDX with its 20-inch screen and $2,000-and-up price tag. The model in our computers review has a lot of features, including two hard drives, a port for an external hard drive, Bluetooth, two front-mounted headphone jacks, and a digital TV tuner. Sound was very good for a laptop, which isn't surprising because it has four speakers and a subwoofer.
Processing accelerates. Chip maker AMD recently joined competitor Intel in making so-called quad-core chips, with four processors instead of the usual two. Intel's Core 2 Quad was the speedier of the two, besting AMD's Phenom by 20 percent and Intel's older Core 2 Duo by about the same. The quad-core desktops we tested during the computers review cost a few hundred dollars more than dual-core models.
Intel also launched its new line of Penryn processors for laptops, known as the T8x00 and T9x00 Core 2 Duo series. We tested them in eight models in the computers review , with mixed results. Battery life in one pair of laptops rose by 30 minutes, but not at all in another. Speed increased by as much as 57 percent, depending on which older processor it was compared with. The new processors boost a laptop's price by $50 to $150 compared with the prior generation of processors, which remain available.
Standard computers advance. Cutting-edge computers aside, even the mainstream models in our Ratings and computers review reflect the steady advance in performance and features, with larger hard drives, increased RAM, and more.
For more help on finding the right computer for your needs, see our free buying advice, "How to choose: desktop PCs" and "How to choose: laptops and notebooks."
